Title	THE ORIGINALS FEST
Brand	VOLKSWAGEN LCV
Product/Service	THE ORIGINALS FEST (17 FURGOVOLKSWAGEN MEETING)
Category	D04. Digital Installations
Entrant	PHD Barcelona, SPAIN
Idea Creation	OGILVY SPAIN Barcelona, SPAIN
Media Placement	PHD Barcelona, SPAIN
Production	OGILVY SPAIN Barcelona, SPAIN

Name	Company	Position
Gemma Gutierrez	OGILVY	General Director
Gabriel Garcia de Oro	OGILVY	Executive Creative Director
Lucia De Los Santos	OGILVY	Creative Director
Alberto Muriel	OGILVY	Copywriter
Oliver Cano	OGILVY	Copywriter
Fani Cabrera	OGILVY	Art Director
Nuria Blasco	OGILVY	Art Director
Maria Solsona	OGILVY	Account Director
Marta Torres	OGILVY	Account Supervisor
Andrea Sanchez	OGILVY	Account Executive
Marc Casanovas	OGILVY	Communications Director
Eva Cervera	OGILVY	Communications Manager
Christian Martinez	OGILVY	Communications Assistant

Why is this work relevant for Brand Experience & Activation?

The restrictions of the pandemic meant that the brand was unable to hold its emblematic annual meeting aimed at lovers of vans and camper life. An event that had established itself as the benchmark event in the sector after the consecutive success of its 16 previous editions. In order not to cancel the event, Volkswagen LCV recreated the same experience virtually, but adapted the activities to a 100% digital environment. Despite mobility restrictions, van lovers were able to meet and live the same experience as in the physical meeting despite the context.

Background

For 16 years, Volkswagen LCV has been organizing the FurgoVolkswagen Meeting. An event where Camper life lovers and Volkswagen Vans can physically meet and share their passion in a beautiful town in the coast of Girona. The event is an absolute success for the brand, both for the attendance and for the direct communication they have with their most direct audience. However, due to the restrictions of the pandemic (May 2021) the brand had to reinvent itself. And being aware of the growing digital revolution, they decided to celebrate the concentration in an innovative and exciting virtual event, unprecedented in the automotive sector. This virtual meeting resulted in The Originals Fest, where the users were offered an access to an interactive map, divided into several zones, in which they could perform endless activities that would make them feel as if they were (physically), another year, in the 17th FurgoVolkswagen Concentration.

Describe the creative idea (20% of vote)

To make users feel at home, we recreated the emblematic place where previous meetings had been physically held: the camping “ballena alegre”. The result was a virtual map where users could move around the different areas to relive the most fun activities of the past editions as well as new activities with a more digital approach. The virtual experience started with the creation of your own avatar. So we turned the tedious experience of the typical automotive website configurator into a fun digital experience in which the user could choose their van and personalize it through colour, stickers and different elements. In this way, the user humanised their van and experienced a virtual test drive by moving around the different areas of the map such as the Volkswagen talks to see interviews with guests from the camper world, or the Volkswagen Fun zone with games for the little ones

Describe the strategy (20% of vote)

In a pandemic context, we wanted to be consistent with the communication of this 100% virtual event. Therefore, we worked a totally digital campaign and we executed it exclusively in online environments. The aim was to connect emotionally with the audience, through nostalgia and fun associated with the event in other editions, to attract them to register. So, we planned a campaign targeted to all lovers of camper life and Volkswagen Vans. At that moment without any limits and geographical restrictions since the event was going to be online and accessible to more people than ever. In addition, we also had the opportunity to work with Volkswagen LCV database, to reinforce our message with direct communications to the brand's current customers. An event full of opportunities for users that was spread in all digital disciplines, Social media, Programmatic and Direct Display.

Describe the execution (30% of vote)

With a media budget of € 63,000 and € 40,000 for production, we had the challenge of getting all the Vanlovers to know that the acclaimed FurgoVolkswagen Meeting was held again, but in a different way. The campaign was launched a month before the event. Firstly, we published creativities to make the event known, as well as its dates and the new online format. Awareness with notorious and high-impact formats. After that, the aim was to communicate everything they would find at TheOriginalsFest. The message was more focused on registration using conversion formats, adding the incentive to win a week with the Grand California, the top Camper. All disciplines; Social Media, Programmatic and Direct worked in the same direction. The campaign converged on a visual landing, where Camper lovers could create their user after a registration form.

List the results (30% of vote)

The campaign generated 25 million impressions, + 145,000 clicks and 570,000 video views. Considering that this is the first campaign that the brand carries out to strength their relationship with Vanlovers and based on a 100% online environment, the results have been a success. The campaign reached 27% of core target and 19% of Internet users. In Facebook we reached up to 5 million users and 1.5 million in Programmatic. The registration landing had a CPVisit of € 2.1 and +24,000 visits (lower that the average LCV campaigns € 2.30 -10%). 6,650 people registered for the event (27% of visits), with the excellent cost of € 10. All this can be considered a great success for the brand, knowing how to take advantage of a context of digitalization, adding fun proposals that reconnected them with their audience and reaching even more Vanlovers than ever, thanks to 100% online format.